


You Saw the Stars Out in Front of You / Too Tempting Not to Touch

by The_Shy_One



Category: Batman (Comics), Green Lantern (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Based on Batman Universe, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Angst, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, One Shot, POV Alternating, White Lantern Bruce Wayne, White Ring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26734996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Shy_One/pseuds/The_Shy_One
Summary: What if Hal was at the battle with the Green Lanterns in Batman Universe? What might have been changed with that battle?
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 3
Kudos: 55





	You Saw the Stars Out in Front of You / Too Tempting Not to Touch

“Okay, I’m not joking when I say: do not turn around,” Dick said, voice careful and trying to come off as controlled when turning his head away from Bruce. 

“Because?” Bruce questioned. What else could have shown up after the last minute of surprises? 

The White Ring that had accepted Bruce as a suitable host over Vandal Savage and the problems that arose with that decision. His new - and  _ white - a  _ suit that had been forced on him by the ring had a defence system that he couldn’t control. The whispers from the ring also made dread sink in his stomach as he kept catching a few words, all of them not making sense to him about protecting himself and those he loved by keeping them alive.

It was freaking him out, to be this out of control with something that had a mind of its own. Hal didn’t seem to have this much issue when it came to his own ring or suit. Same with the other Lanterns that protected Earth. They were more in tune, in harmony with one another than what Bruce was experiencing.

It could have happened at the start when Hal was chosen and given his ring. But that never seemed like the case when Barry asked about that time all those years ago in the WatchTower. Hal had too much will and stubbornness for anything - short of a dimension parasite trying to escape its prison to take over his body - to feel as if he were losing control of himself. 

Not like this, never like this.

A look of surprise came onto Dick’s face as he said,” Because I don’t want to upset the broken ring of incredible cosmic power,” continuing to stare at what suddenly showed up off to the side.

Looking up, Bruce sees many of the Green Lantern Corps floating in the air, poised and ready to fight him if he makes a wrong move. Closest to the ground, Bruce saw Earth’s Lanterns close together, all but one of them looking down at Bruce with cold detachment. 

Hal was the only one with a hint of concern on his face despite taking on the same pose as the other three. Maybe it was because only twelve hours earlier, they had been together in the Old West, sticking together to find a way to come back home. Maybe it was because Hal had started to get an idea of what was hiding in the antiqued jewelled egg before forcibly being pulled back into their own time. Maybe it was because despite all they’ve argued and spat at each when it came to Justice League business there was something else that made Hal look a tiny bit concerned for him now.

Or maybe Bruce wanted to think that, mind racing as the ring continued to whisper about power and protection and what he should do to keep all he wanted safe from anything and everything possible.

“You are in serious violation of the laws of the Green Lantern Corps,” John said, voice calm and even. If Bruce wasn’t on the receiving end of it, he would remark that it was professional in the face of having to take down someone the Lantern worked with. “Surrender immediately.”

“We’re really gonna do this?” Hal asks, turning his gaze towards the other Lantern. It was filled with determination and - Bruce was hesitant to label it with all that was between them, but there was no other way of seeing it - loyalty. “We’re really going to arrest him? Do you really think he’s after the power of the White Ring, Stewart?” 

“We do not know what he’s currently thinking, Jordan,” John said, still keeping his voice even and calm despite Hal defying him. He didn’t turn, keeping his focus on Bruce. “It chose him for a reason.”

“It’s broken, Stewart, it’s been throwing Batman around through space and time for the last few days, it doesn’t know what it's doing.”

“Can you prove that? Or is it loyalty that blinds you to what we see now?”

Hal lets out a frustrated growl at these questions before giving the other man an answer. “It threw me back in time where there was nothing but bandits and dysentery, I think I can tell when a ring is broken!” 

A few moments of silence. Bruce looks over the scene, wondering what would come next. Hal looks down at him, hands curling into fists as frustration bleeds into every inch of the man’s body.

And yet, there was determination as well as he stared down at Bruce.

“Where is your proof, Jordan?”

Bruce blinks when Hal moves away from the Green Lanterns, breaking formation. The suit on his body creates white spikes, prepared for Hal to make a move, to strike him down when he doesn’t expect it. The ring whispers, that he was chosen for this, that he should protect from everything, anything that was willing to stand in his way.

Perhaps it wasn’t the ring that was trying to influence him. It seems there was more going on than with it than he expected. A literal manifestation of his walls, prickling thorns and all to protect him from the world he went out of his way to keep out of danger.

What he doesn’t expect is the man to float in front of him, positioned to fight against the Corps with a construct of a round shield. He stares, wondering what Hal got out of this. What could he possibly get out of protecting Bruce - who Hal didn’t know for certain that Bruce might be drunk with power, might be willing to sacrifice him to prove a point to the Green Lantern Corps. Just so many possibilities that could end with him dead from being so loyal.

Always going in with no plan, always.

And yet, it somehow touched Bruce that the man had that much faith in him. The spikes fade as this occurs as if he were finally gaining some control over the ring.

“How about you just take my word instead of provoking a fight?” Hal said, snapping Bruce’s attention back to him. “I have a feeling the ring won’t come quietly even with Bruce desperate to get it off his finger.”

“You sure about that, Jordan?” Bruce asks.  _ ‘How do you know I’m not corrupted? That I won’t kill you for putting that trust in me?’  _ is what goes unsaid between them despite how much he desperately wanted to ask those questions, burning in his throat as they stayed stuck there.

Hal looked over his shoulder, a smirk on his face. “I’m sure, Spooky.”

A light feeling soared in his heart as he heard those words. 

Then suddenly, there was a bright white light engulfing him before he could understand that it was the ring that caused it.

___________

Fear gripped his heart as the white light enveloped Bruce, making the man drop to the ground as his consciousness was whisked into the ring. Hal however didn’t have a chance to see if the man was alright, he had to leave it to Nightwing as the Green Lanterns took this as a sign to attack. Twisting his gaze away, he fought the Green Lanterns, making sure they didn’t get close to the platform where Bruce lay.

Things blurred during the fight, his only focus on making sure that Bruce didn’t accidentally get killed for something that wasn’t in his control. Construct after construct, Hal made sure that everything that was thrown at Bruce didn’t reach him. The White Ring on his finger obviously wasn’t working right, something buggy going on inside in the program. 

Then Vandal Savage decided he still deserved to have the ring despite being snubbed by it earlier. 

“The Ring is mine!” Vandal shouted, getting closer to Bruce’s body despite John and Kyle trying to keep him back with green shackles around his arms and legs. 

“Seriously, not cool guys!” He heard Nightwing shout, throwing his escrima sticks around at various Green Lanterns as Kyle says,” And do you know how many times a Green Lantern hears a version of  _ ‘The ring is mine’?!  _ Come on, man!”

Hal moves closer to Bruce, blocking shots from the other Green Lanterns with a round shield projected out in front of him. Fear gripped his heart, but he pushed it down to protect Bruce. He couldn’t fail the man, not now, not when he needed it most.

“You alright, Wing?” Hal asked, throwing out a construct of a blade to distract Vandal from trying to get any closer. It hit the man in the knee, causing him to wobble for a moment which gave John and Kyle a moment to pull him away from Bruce, away from the ring.

“Surprisingly yes. It’s him I’m worried about,” Nightwing says, throwing one of his escrima sticks at Vandal’s face. Hal would later admit to Bruce the loud burst of laughter he let out when it hit the struggling villain square in the face, causing Vandal to tip his head backwards as he let out a pained groan. 

Hal takes a moment to look down at Bruce, seeing that the white suit around the batsuit was starting to drift away from the man. Without wasting a second to think, Hal raises his hand to construct a small green box around the ring as it starts to pull itself off of Bruce’s finger. 

It tries to get out of it, pushes against the walls with force but Hal wills the construct to stay strong, to keep the broken ring contained. The ring continues to push against it but is beaten down when other Lanterns join in making the construct stronger with their own wills added in. They move it away from Bruce, letting it drift in the air while the rest started to clean up the place.

He relaxes and watches as Bruce sluggishly moves to sit up. Nightwing, taking on the role he once had as Bruce’s young sidekick, goes to check him out, to make sure he was alright. To the side, he sees some of the other Lanterns deal with Vandal, giving him the rough treatment as they hauled him off.

“You okay?” Nightwing says, crouching down. He was only a foot away, still cautious about the effects that damaged ring might’ve had on his father.

“It let me go,” Bruce says, mystified. 

There’s a relieved smile on Nightwing’s face as he moves closer and gently places a hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Great. It’s been contained.”

Bruce shifts his gaze from his oldest son to Hal and Hal wishes he was doing more than making sure a glitched-out ring didn’t escape. He wanted to appear more heroic than this despite knowing Bruce wouldn’t be impressed with a nice pose and a charming smile.

“Thank you, Hal,” Bruce said, standing up with Nightwing’s help.

Hal looks to the platform’s ground, covered in dust and rubble, embarrassed all of a sudden. “No problem, Spooky. Just doing what needed to be done.”

He notes that Bruce comes to stand in front of him the same way he notes that Nightwing is still holding his father up. The ring must have taken a bit out of him, same as Hal after he’s fought a hard battle and then travels back to Earth in a matter of days.

Then his gaze is being forced up with Bruce hooking his fingers around his chin and makes him look up. The cowl isn’t off, that would be too much of a risk for Bruce with all the aliens in the Corps and Vandal still around. But the soft smile that he saw made his heart skip a beat. It was rare to see that, same with the laughter that wasn’t just a wry huff through his nose being heard.

“I should have counted on that,” Bruce says quietly. He moves closer, NightWing steadying him until Hal puts one arm around the man’s shoulder. “Shouldn’t have doubted that you would be willing to stand up to me.”

“You actually doubted my stubborn ass not to stand up for you?” Hal said, raising an eyebrow at the man. A bit of laughter escapes Bruce, still sounding contained despite wanting to see the man lose himself in laughter. But it was enough to see the amused smile aimed at him.

“You never have a plan, of course, I should have.”

Hal laughs and pulls him closer, tucking his head close to the man’s shoulder as best as he could while still making sure he was containing the White Ring. He spies Nightwing’s bright smile that aimed at them and the Lantern’s smirks that were directed at him. He sticks his tongue out at the Lanterns, knowing he couldn’t give them the finger to flip them off.

He was going to get so much shit from them later when Bruce wasn’t in earshot.

He’s momentarily distracted when Bruce moves a hand to place over Hal’s, letting it rest there despite how tired he must be feeling. He gets closer, hoping that this moment would last longer. If it lasted long enough, his mind couldn’t trick him into thinking it wasn’t true later on.

His heart raced when Bruce placed a kiss on his cheek, gentle and short. And yet it felt like a lifetime’s worth of what Hal wanted from the other man. He couldn’t resist returning the gesture.

It was well worth it to see that same soft smile again.

**Author's Note:**

> Came up with this idea when I realized how much different the battle at the end of Batman Universe would have gone if Hal was there with a bit of BatLantern thrown in because why not? It was a lot of fun to write and I'm hoping to do few more of this pairing once I've read more on either (especially Hal.)
> 
> Anyway, hopefully, it was a fun one-shot to read! :D


End file.
